20 Cases of Bean Dip

I don’t know if I’d call it the Class of 1965’s finest hour, but what happened during a Christmas food drive stuck out in some students’ memories 10 and 20 years later.

When it came to for people to come up with their memories of Central High School for the 10th reunion, Lee Dahringer listed “20 cases of bean dip.” Louie Ervin also listed the canned food drive (along with Twirp Week, baseball, football, student council and Tiger Den).

Treasure trove of 65 students

I’m assuming this is the infamous food drive because I don’t see anyone from the Class of 64, but there’s a smattering of the Class of ’66 lurking around.

What was the story of the bean dip?

I don’t have first-hand knowledge of the whole story, but as I recall, there was a contest to see which class could bring in the most canned goods to distribute to the needy. Whoever set up the contest must have not thought about the devious devils in the Class of ’65 because the rules (if there were any) were extremely lax.

At the last minute, some folks showed up with 20 cases – 20 cases, not cans – of bean dip they had purchased cheaply. (Or knowing these guys, the cases may have fallen off a truck.)

That was more than enough to seal the deal for the Class of ’65. It wasn’t what I would consider a classy move since bean dip may not have been the highest priority for hungry families, but it won the contest.

That’s sweet Amy Barringer Stovall – wife of Jim (Gunner ) – still lives in cape. Life long teacher, mother, now grandmother. Had twin Beth and older sister Joyce and a brother. I think we were boy friend – girlfriend in Jr High for a short time over the summer before we started CHS as Frosh. Our budding romance lasted about 15 minutes once school started because of the obvious. Amy already looked like she does in the 1965 photo above (a movie star) and I still looked like i was in 7th or 8th grade. 5 foot and change with a flat top. Amy went from being my girlfriend and meeting at occasional boy-girl parties to ” car” dating Juniors and Seniors. I still got some ‘street credit’ with the other nerds (like Magnum PU Hopkins) because I would hear thepm whisper” can you believe HE used to ‘go out’ with one of the Barringer Twins?!)
So…… I had that going for me. That and the running joke that Billy Withers and i looked like “two taxi cabs with both doors open” unti we grew into our ears. I think it was around freshman year at SEMO when I no longer heard that one.
Ah…. Sweet memories if Cental High Scrool ! Or what I look back on as the Cental Inferiority Complex.

PS: we – class of 66 – were the last freshman class at Central HS on Caruthers. Only when they moved to the new building on I-55 did the Frosh rejoin the high school.

It’s really hard feeling sorry for Mr Brune and his gril friend (s) plight. At least he was able to grow into his ears. I didin’t grow, I could still get pant where I would have to roll up the legs to fit. Anyway as a poor little Senior taking art and setting next to the pretty Christie Seabaugh (sp) and not having a clue that I was could or would have the nerve to ask her out. We would just talking but the next thing I know a guy with big ears 🙂 (Brad) stops me in the hall and wants to know if I am hitting on his girl friend. I am standing there looking dumb, saying no and really have no clue why he would ask me that. After thinking about it for a few years I think Christie’s best freind, Georgiann Penzel, she was in the class too, told Brad that I was hitting on her, at least that was all I could come up with. Lets see Brad one of the Barringer twins or Christie Seabaugh, hum, hard choice and you have all my sympathy for having to give up Amy.

As for the food drive I believe it was the same year or our Senior year I brought the bean dip at Krogers and our home room teacher, whom ever it was, asked what would the people think about getting that to eat. Made me feel about a foot high, but then again that wasn’t much smaller than I was. Learned a lesson that day.

Stll hard trying not to feel sorry for Brad, high school quarterback, chick magnet, except for the oversize ears which I would never have known and all those wounderful stories he tells us today. Oh well back to the warmth of being in Ft Myers today, 80 degrees and sunny. 🙂

Holy cow there is Me in picture number 4# top center…the only guy facing the camera, as usual. Brune is partly correct, we did not whisper “I can not believe Brune is going out with_____________ ” , Fill in the blank here. We said it out loud and many times when he was around and probably when he was not a round too, we mumbled is in the lunch line and study hall too. Someone mention to Brune it “Street Cred” not street Credit, too. I do see Bill Bishop in a very fine striped sweater, probably wool to keep Brune away for him during school hours.
You have great shot of Charlie Duncan, and even Feldmier, probably the greatest student body president ever, in shot 3# wearing tie!
I see Carol Rawlings in a cheer leader outfit, I only mention this because…well never mind, but it is good shot. Even Bill Pitts in picture 3#, great shot.
I think I will just sit down and look at these for a minute or two more. Thanks for saving these great crowd shots. I just saw Stanley Gale Friese, Mike Friese’s brother!

Next morning….. bothered me all night. I remember now like yesterday. Class of 66 had the drive won till the infamous two cases of refried beans showed up. Popular rumor had it that Lee Dahringer and cohearts knocked over a VW Bus full of illegal Mexican farm workers traveling North on Hwy 61 that stopped for gas in Cape at Thoni’s.

Dr.Steinhoff just does these type stories just to Psss me off! He could name 75% of the people in these pictures with his original pristine copies & access to year books.

But NO – he throws out a few obvious names & makes an obvious a mis-ID or two to create controversy!!! knowing OCD senior citizens like me won’t be able to stand it!

These canned food drive pics were easy pickins, and are a literal “Potpourri & Cornucopia” of easily recognized kids. .. and yes there were class of 67’s NO there was no JT. Please scuze my spellin & there’s a few last names I couldn’t pull out of the cobwebs:

That is Betsy Rawlings, not Carol Rawlings on a closer look. and RARE photo of the “man of mystery” Jon Vogel in picture 5# on the right at top… It looks like he is talking to Jesse James’s old girl friend Chrisie Seabaugh. These shots are real treasure trove of people…Thanks again Ken.
I wonder if Brune knew about all this? Probably not to answer my own question.
Well back to work, there trash cans to be emptied and floors to sweep!

Christy wasn’t my girlfriend until Senior year Jesse… and it wasn’t the fact that you were “talking” to her in class that upset many of us guys.

We even had a name for it: “JJ’s View of the World”. We all envied you James!! While the rest of us were too embarrassed to even look girls in the eyes when we brushed by them in the crowded hallways of CHS – JJ was getting a face full of young & perky teenage HooHaa’s!! Ever wonder why he had that big GRIN on his face when he entered class?? Or why he was caught having an “after” cigarette in the John’s on more than one occasion?

I see Charlie (moved to Illinois and changed name to Chuck) Baldwin next to Lonnie Blackwood, each with a clip on ties, so we had a game against Sikeston that night. Jackie Knehans and Sharon Trotter with cheerleader uniforms on.

Lee, your memories don’t tie in with what Lois Seabaugh posted on Facebook. Reprinted here with her permission:

I will clear up the mystery of the “20 cases of bean dip” for you Ken. My dad was a wholesale snack food business man. One of the many varieties of items he sold was Fritos corn chips. One of the companies he sold for was the So Good Potato Chip Company from St. Louis. For every 50 cases of Fritos he sold he got a case of Fritos Bean Dip free. He had an excess inventory of the bean dip in the warehouse. He offered it to me for the canned food drive so I loaded it up in the family station wagon and took it to school and the guys from our home room carried it in. If I remember correctly each case had 12 cans of bean dip in it so that really put our total number of cans over the top. It wasn’t meant to be devious because beans are actually a good source of plant protien. However, the wrath of the larger home room groups losing to our meek non-famous group of students was never forgotten. It was the class of 1962. Yes, after all these many years people still talk about it.

The thing that is confusing to me is that she says it was the Class of 1962, but it’s a strong memory for members of the Class of 1965. Did it happen more than once? Are there that many cans of bean dip in the world?

Mark, if you click on the photos, it’ll bring them up 1248 pixels wide. That’s not quite full screen. It’s a compromise I make to keep loading times under control for folks who have a slow internet connection. Is that still too small for your aging eyes?

I was in the class of ’64 and I remember the bean dip “fiasco”. To be sure, ’64 wasn’t too much in the running even before the load showed up but we certainly were out of the picture after it did! So, this must have been sometime in ’63-’64 to have our class, as seniors in the mix.

In the picture marked “Halls are packed” The boy at the top center in the dark shirt who is looking down looks like Gary Littleton and behind him to the right with a bee hive hair-do and dark framed glasses is Georgia Clark.

Cathi popp smith ’62-
Lois will be happy to hear that she has a lot of class of ’62 to back her story. George Smith (my deceased husband) was one of her classmates and loved telling the story about the infamous bean dip that more than tipped the scales in favor of their class winning the food drive. Yes, the bean dip memory originated with the class of ’62.

Thanks for backing up my story,Cathy. Do you remember that I also borrowed a pair of farmers bib overalls from Jennie Taylor Kelpe to wear for Senior Tacky Day, and went as the “future bean dip farmer”. Someone took a picture and when I find it I will post it. Just as a side note the Frito Lay company still makes Fritos Bean Dip and it is marketed on the chip racks — not too cheap either. long live the Bean Dip Legend of 1962!!

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Cape Central High Photos

Ken Steinhoff, Cape Girardeau Central High School Class of 1965, was a photographer for The Tiger and The Girardot, and was on the staff of The Capaha Arrow and The Sagamore at Southeast Missouri State University. He worked as a photographer / reporter (among other things) at The Jackson Pioneer and The Southeast Missourian.

He transferred to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, his junior year, and served as photo editor of The Ohio University Post. He was also chief photographer of The Athens Messenger.

He was chief photographer of the Gastonia (NC) Gazette for a long 18 months until he could escape to The Palm Beach Post, where he served as a staff photographer, director of photography, editorial operations manager and telecommunications manager. He accepted a buyout in 2008, after 35 years at the paper.

Most of the stories are about growing up in a small Midwestern town on the Mississippi River, but there’s no telling what you might run into.

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